Sandcastles
by Darian21
Summary: Third in my Pipe Dreams Series. Won't make much sense if you don't read the other two fics.
1. Chapter 1

**Sandcastles **

**By Darian**

**Summary: Third in my Pipe Dreams Series. Won´t make much sense if you don ´t read the other two fics. And Bonnie thanks for reminding you know who. Don´t worry she will show up later 8o)))**

**Chapter 1 **

The beach looked really great. The sun was high but it wasn´t terribly hot and there was a gentle wind that soothed the skin just right.

Methos took a deep breath of the fresh salty air. He should do this more often. Just relax and not worry about tomorrow. Enjoy the life while he could.

The world's oldest Immortal carefully marked the page in the book he was reading and looked around.

Julia and Joseph were building a sand castle only a few meters away from where he was sitting.

Methos had to grin at how concentrated Joseph was at his task. The stick from the ice-cream they ate together earlier was firmly held in his little hand and he was using it as a chisel to create battlements . The tip of his tongue was sticking out of the corner of his mouth.

Each stroke had to be perfect, he wouldn´t be satisfied otherwise.

Julia was right next to him with pail full of wet sand in case it would be needed to repair something that wasn´t according to the main castle architect's expectations . Her blonde hair was tied loosely in one thick braid but a few strands had already escaped it and were now framing her amused face.

The tower on the other side of their castle started to fall down. Sand grains slowly slipped away until the whole top just fell down.

Methos chuckled and stood up so he could join them. Maybe give them some tips about what castles really looked like. The one they were building definitely wouldn't stand any chance if it ever came under siege.

After a few steps he realized that something wasn´t right. They were only five meters away from him but with each another step they looked further and further apart from him than before instead of closer.

He started running, but the sand under his feet changed into a swamp and he started to sink.

Julia and Josef didn´t notice, like he wasn´t even here. Methos tried to call them but his mouth was already full of sand. His vision was turning grey and his lungs were burning from lack of oxygen. The sand was firmly wrapped around him and his arms and legs were trapped. It also felt weird, like it was made of fabric instead of grains.

Methos opened his eyes and found himself looking at the unknown ceiling. The beach and sand were both gone - "_so are Julia and Joseph" _whispered his traitorous mind - and his feet and arms were tangled in the thick blanket that Duncan had given him the night before.

With a sigh, the world's oldest Immortal untangled himself and stretched his limbs.

"Good morning. I was wondering when you'd wake up," Duncan said. He was standing in the kitchen. Methos could already smell the fresh coffee he had put on.

"I didn´t exactly get much sleep last night." retorted Methos, still a little drowsily. That dream had really scrambled his mind.

"Me neither, and whose fault is that again, hmm?" Duncan folded his arms and gave him an irritated look.

"One night without sleep won't kill you, besides you were awake for what? Ten minutes tops and then you went right back to bed, so don´t act like some martyr."

"You are stalling again. I didn´t press you last night but I still want to know why you're here."

"Can´t I just visit an old friend? You know if you are still grumpy about my slightly late arrival, I can make you breakfast as an apology. What do you say?"

"Now I definitely know that you don´t want to answer me. In the whole time I've known you, you never offered to cook for me."

Methos rolled his eyes. During their conversation, he'd folded his blanket. Now he put it back onto the couch. "I swear, you and Joe must be in collusion. He said almost the same thing."

Macleod's mood immediately improved.

"You saw Joe? I couldn´t find him anywhere. When I went to the bar to visit him there was some young lad that told me that he'd gone on vacation but he's been gone almost nine months and I´m starting to get worried."

Methos send a mental thanks to whoever was listening for the change in topic.

"He isn´t on vacation, he's retired. They gave him his gold watch and told him to keep away from you. That young _lad_ you met is probably your Watcher now."

The world's most famous frown was back again and with a vengeance.

"Is he all right?"

"He is fine, but he's getting older. For us a few years is nothing, but for him, not so much."

"Yeah, I know, sometimes it´s really hard to keep track of time."

"If you think so now, wait until you're be my age. Five thousand years can really put everything in weird perspective."

"I doubt I will live that long." Just then Duncan´s stomach rumbled loudly, reminding both of them that they hadn't eaten yet.

" I´m going to buy some rolls for breakfast do you want something?"

"No. What I want is a shower. Did I mention I really _do_ hate commercial flights?"

"Repeatedly. I will be back in ten minutes. You can take some clean clothes from the wardrobe on the left. I know you would do it anyway so..."

Methos grinned."You wound me, my dear Highlander. I would never steal clothes from a friend."

"Tell that to my favorite white sweater. It´s still missing since your last visit."

"I was cold so I _borrowed it_. Sue me"

"It was three years ago! If you really just meant to borrow it, you should have given it back already. I will be back in ten."

Main door clicked shut and Methos stretched again. The sweaty shirt was uncomfortably sticky and it was also starting to smell.

Methos grimaced and went straight to the bathroom.

_I hope he has better towels than at his old place. Maybe I could steal some later, just to mess with my grouchy host._

**_TBC_**

**Please, please read and review******


	2. Chapter 2

**Sandcastles**

**By ****Darian**

**Sorry that it took me so long to update but I was away on Festival ****Fantazie**** in ****Chotěboř****8o****)))****  
><strong>

**Chapter two **

Methos stood under the shower spray and let the water massage his shoulders, still stiff from sleep.

The water was almost scalding, but he didn't mind, at least it let him forgot that disturbing dream.

It made him feel warm again, even if it was just for a moment.

The disturbing images that his mind created the night before chilled him more than anything else in his long, long life.

He hated when even his most fond memories turned against him.

In his 5000 years he had a lot of sleepless nights because he was afraid to close his eyes and fall asleep. Being one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse gave his nightmares a lot of working material, but sometimes he almost wished for the screams and blood of countless innocents. Those were dreams he got used to living with a long time ago.

_But I did the right thing. They are safe. _

_Safe away from those god dammed hunters. And safe away from me and the death that I always bring everywhere with me._

The name was more than fitting.

Through the falling water he heard a distant sound of the main doors unlocking and opening.

It looked like Duncan had returned a little sooner than he said.  
>Methos was still deciding if he should turn the shower off and join him for breakfast or stay there a little longer when the door from the bathroom suddenly burst open.<p>

"Hey handsome, can I join …"

The woman that stood in the doorframe froze in the middle of the sentence, when she realized that he wasn't the Highlander she had expected to find there.

Before he could give her any explanation she ran out of the room with a high-pitched scream.

Methos quickly turned off the water and wrapped the nearest towel around his slim hips.

He totally forgot about the fact that Duncan was supposed to be married this time. He was still used to the thought that his friend was the bachelor he met after Tessa's death.

He never counted Amanda at all because she never spent enough time at his place to be considered as serious relationship.

The door from the bathroom got shut again when his unexpected visitor ran away screaming, so Methos opened them and had to quickly duck down. Only his reflexes honed by 5000 years of survival saved him from rather quick demise.

In the doorframe, where his head had been just seconds ago, was now deeply stuck a 16th century rapier.

,,Aaaghr…" Screamed the feisty brunette that was holding the other end of the previously mentioned sword and tried to pull it out.

_Duncan sure likes them fierce I heard that __Tessa__ had quite a temper too._

The thought flashed through Methos's head as he quickly jumped away out of her reach.

,,Hey, wait a moment I can…" another swing at his neck made him hide beyond sofa.

…explain."

,,Who the hell are you, and where is Duncan? What have you done with him!"

Her dark eyes were shinning like hot embers with rage. For someone who only had few inches over five foot she looked positively dangerous. Even when Methos knew she was just a mortal.

,,Nothing, nothing. He is perfectly fine."

,,I don´t believe you."

She attacked him again with her sword and this time she was luckier than before.  
>The blade was really sharp like somebody had just sharpened it few minutes before and it struck him across his left forearm. Blood immediately welled up from the long gash and started to drip onto the white carpet.<br>When his quickening kicked in and started to heal the wound her eyes narrowed even more.

,,I knew it. I knew it! You are like him. You are a Hunter!"  
>¨<p>

,,No, I´m not after his head, dammit. Listen to me for just a second, we are friends."

,,Liar. He never mentioned to me that anyone was staying here."

,,He didn´t know that I was coming. I just got here in middle of last night. My name is Adam Pierson, and I have been friends with your husband for over a decade. He had to mention me at least once?"

,,I never heard that name before in my life. Step one more step closer and I will cut off your head."

The point of her sword was actually aimed at his chest but he decided that maybe it wasn't the best time to point that out.

_Well I DID tried to reason with her. Highlander can ´t say that I didn´__t__. _

_To hell with it, I can´t hurt her; Duncan would take my head if I did while we struggled._

_ This is _really_ going to hurt._

Methos quickly moved forward and felt the cold steel pierce his side. Then he twisted his body to the left. The maneuver tore the blade out of her hands. Methos quickly pulled it out of the wound so it could heal and threw it across the room so it was out of both their reaches.

Her eyes now full of terror darted to the corner where it landed, but before she could flee to it his strong arms caught her and pinned her hands to her sides.

Their noses were just a few centimeters away from each other, when suddenly behind them someone loudly cleared their throat.

They both turned their heads to the sound.

Duncan was standing in the opened front door with both hands holding grocery bags. His brown eyes full of sparks betrayed his silent laughter.

,,You know Methos, if I didn´t know both of you really well this wouldn´t look good for you."

The words oldest Immortal threw the amused Highlander a deadly glare. Then he let go of his bewildered wife and went looking for the towel that he lost at some point during the fight.

**TBC**

**Please read and review, please please pretty please ****8o****))) **


	3. Chapter 3

**Sandcastles**

**By ****Darian**

**Sorry that it took me so long to update, this time I don´t have an excuse I was just being too lazy to write anything. But hey this chapter is the longest one that I EVER wrote so forgive me please ****8o****)))**  
><strong><br>Chapter Three**

Methos was just pulling Duncan´s second favorite sweater over his head when someone knocked hesitantly on the bathroom door.

"Come in."

The door opened and revealed a very embarrassed-looking Sarah. Her cheeks were still as red as right after the moment when Duncan had introduced them to each other. And her eyes were looking anywhere but at him.

"I…I want…. to….. apologize. For the …earlier." Her voice was barely a whisper at the beginning but it was getting steadier and louder as she continued.

"I´m really, …..really sorry, I thought that you were here to kill us." Her cheeks brightened even more after that statement when she realized what she had just said.

"I mean…well don´t meant that you would, sorry… sorry, I will just stop talking so I won´t put any more feet in the mouth that I already did."

She still stood in the doorway and was fidgeting with her arms nervously. She looked like she would rather be anywhere but there. If the earth opened right now at her feet to swallow her up she would probably have jumped into the hole without the slightest hesitation.

"Apology accepted." Methos lips twitched as he saw visible relief in her face. But she still looked like she didn´t want to leave.

" Did you need something else?"

"Oh….Uhm… I just wanted to ask you if wanted to wash something. I will be doing laundry so I can add yours... to it too?"

"Thanks for offering, that shirt I was wearing this morning saw over half of this planet since its last washing…..literally. I just got here from the States last night."

Her lips twitched but she still refused to look him in the eyes.

_Oh for gods sakes._

Methos sighed. People in this century were such prudes. Not even two thousand years ago in Rome you could run around as an athlete naked and everyone actually _cheered_ you on and if they really liked what they saw they even made you a statue or two.

Today you couldn´t show a patch of skin without making someone flustered.

He made a mental note to visit the Louvre soon. They still had one of _his_ statues as a part of an Ancient Rome exhibition. It was almost intact if you overlooked the missing nose but at least no one would be able to recognize him. He had given it to them as an anonymous gift last summer when he went through one of his _many_ warehouses looking for a thirteen century manuscript that would make a rather nice Christmas gift for Joe and decided to tidy it up a little.

He really needed to buy another one soon. Right now several of them were filled to their full capacity. In five thousand years you could pick up a rather impressive pile of junk even if you kept only the bare minimum of your possessions. His library alone was currently scattered over twelve warehouses, some of them weren´t even on the same continent.

Methos took his clothes from the counter next to the sink and gave them to her. She still refused to look at him as she took folded shirt and jeans from his hands.

Methos mentally rolled his eyes.

This was getting ridiculous. He planned to stay at least several days until he found something more permanent and this whole thing was already getting on his nerves.

People saw him in much _worse_ states than just without his clothes.

For example that night in Sodom which involved full amphora of really cheap wine, two prostitutes, a camel and a crowded main hall of the Innana´s temple right in the middle of the harvest festival. Not one of his brightest moments when he agreed to participate in the fertility rite that was part of the celebrations. He still couldn´t recollect the whole night but the few pieces that were clear made even _him_ still blush after almost forty centuries.

_Enough, old man, you can go through your embarrassing memories of your teenage years later, right now you need to deal with this. _

"You don´t need to feel bad about earlier, it was an honest mistake and it could have happened to anyone."

Macleod´s wife snorted laughingly and finally lifted her eyes from the tile floor that she had been thoroughly examining few seconds earlier.

"Do you often attack people with a sword while they are taking a shower?"

Methos grinned right back at her. Looked like Duncan really liked the sharp-tongued ones too. The Highlander had always good taste when it involved women; it balanced his poor choices of music.

_Maybe I should buy him some Queen __DVD_s_ for his birthday again._

"Only when they really deserve it,….. or when they steal my favorite shampoo."

"I'll try not to do that in the future, but thanks for the warning." Her eyes were twinkling with silent laughter.

"Duncan is making breakfast. I will just put these into the washing machine and join you two in the kitchen."

"Ok, thanks, I really hate doing laundry."

"Don´t mention it, it´s the least that I can do after almost decapitating you."

She finally left with her eyes still twinkling and he followed her out to the main living area. Macleod was standing behind the stove in the kitchen corner and was mixing some kind of omelette in the big frying pan. His mouth watered at the smell.

_I just hope that it will taste better than that spaghetti that I made for Joe. Or we will probably have to order pizza again. _

"Do I even want to know what you put in it, or is it better to be left in the dark about its contents?"

Highlander threw a glare at him.

"I will let you know that this is my famous vegetable omelet, people would kill for it. Sit down at the table and you will soon find out yourself."

"Then let's hope you made enough, because if your wife wants to have seconds it could get really ugly. She has a really mean right handed swing."

This time Highlander had at least the courtesy to blush.

"I´m really sorry about that, she normally gets home much later. Night shift at the hospital must have been really quiet, I thought that I'd be back before she arrived."

"Another doctor, huh. You seem to collect them quite often, my friend."

"Actually, she's a nurse at the children's wing of the Metro hospital, and for the record only the doctor I ever dated was Anne so I wouldn´t call that collecting."

"Yeah, whatever you say, so where is that famous omelet you promised? I´m starving."

"Don´t worry, it's almost finished." Macleod turned off the stove and added the last pinch of salt.

"Here we go. Omelet ala Macleod, hope you will like it."

Methos started to eat as soon as the Highlander served him his portion. He'd only had a light dinner on the plane, well, if you could call those little colored pieces of rehydrated gods knows what food.

The cardboard boxes that it was packed in probably tasted much better.

_Hmmm_,_ not bad. Maybe I will stay a week or two longer than I previously intended, coffee isn't bad either._

"You know I´m rather hurt, we've known each other for over ten years and you never mentioned me to your wife. And there I thought that we were best friends."

"Actually, he did mention you very often." Sarah came from the laundry room carrying a basket full of clean laundry from the previous evening and gracefully put it aside while taking her own plate from Duncan.

"He just never told me that you go by the name Adam Pierson. He always used the name Methos." She answered and started to eat her still hot omelet.

The words oldest immortal slammed the fork that he was eating with loudly onto table.

"Dammit Macleod, do you want to get me killed? How many times did I tell you not to use that name. It took me centuries to turn myself into the myth and I want it to stay that way at least several more."

"She won´t tell it to anyone, you can trust her. I explained how important your secret was"

Loud clearing of a throat interrupted their argument.

"Love, its rather rude to talk about someone while they are in the room, you know I can speak for myself." Sarah turned towards Methos.

"And I´m giving you my word that I will never reveal anything to anyone about you without your permission. My husband told me how many times you stood at his side when he was in trouble and how many times you saved his life. And I would like to thank you for that."

Methos calmed down and relaxed his pose in the chair again.

He knew that Macleod would never reveal the truth about him to anyone that couldn´t keep it secret. And it was rather hard to keep something like this from your own wife. Even small untruths could ruin a marriage and that was something that the Highlander would avoid at all costs.

Sarah was still watching him during her meal and waiting anxiously for his reaction.

_You are getting soft at your age, old man._

" You are welcome, you know kids these days always getting into some kind of trouble, you really should keep an eye on him, he is rather hard to handle sometimes."

Sarah´s laughter echoed though the loft while Macleod threw a deadly glare at him promising all kinds of bodily harm.

"Trust me I know. But training is still in progress and I have a high hopes for this man."

"Hey, you should be on my side not on his, last time I checked it was me who you married."

Sarah put her now empty plate aside and petted the Highlander's cheek lovingly.

"Of course I´m always on your side love, I´m just teasing you and you know it. So stop brooding, it doesn´t suit you." The frown on Macleod´s face instantly melted away and was replaced by a gentle smile when she stood up on her toes and kissed him lightly on the lips.

"Well I'm knackered, hope you gentlemen don't get into any trouble while I catch up with my beauty sleep. Oh and …Adam, I found this inside of your jeans pocket, you have a beautiful family."

She reached into the basket with clean clothes and pulled out a Polaroid photo.

Methos felt like somebody stabbed him in the chest with a dull knife. All color disappeared from his face in a matter of seconds.

_That picture, how could he forgot about that picture, it was from the day that they spend on the beach, from the day that he asked Julie to marry him. _

_He could still feel the warm sand under his knees as he knelt in front her and begged her to spend the rest of her mortal life with him. It was in the spur of the moment he hadn´t even had a ring, for god's sake. And she still said yes, she said yes. _

_One of his happiest days in his five thousand years full of grief, blood and Death._

His trembling fingers reached towards the picture, afraid it would disappear in the moment he touched it. That it would crumble under his hands like that sandcastle that they'd build during a tide. Afraid he would lose the last reminder of them.

Strong arms encircled his shaking shoulders and returned him back to reality. The gentle Scottish brogue got louder and the words started to make sense again.

"…thos, Methos what´s wrong, tell me what happened. What´s wrong."

The Highlander and his wife both glanced quickly at the photo but nothing seemed amiss.

Well, the only thing that was a little strange was that his paranoid friend let himself to be photographed in the first place. He had known the man for over a decade and didn´t have any pictures of him because Methos refused out of fear that someone might recognize him one day as a mild watcher researcher specializing in the mythical Methos and put two and two together.

The picture looked rather nice. It captured a blonde woman with loose thick braid and radiant smile; her hands were put onto the shoulders of a little boy with messy dark hair that stood in front of her. Methos was embracing them both from behind and grinning happily into the camera.

"Headhunters." The world's oldest immortal whispered into the silence.

**TBC**

**Please, please read and review. If you let me know that you liked it maybe I will make me update sooner next time, really I swear 8o)))**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sandcastles**

**By Darian**

**Greetings fellow fanfiction readers. One of my friends asked me after reading this story why Duncan made an omelet when he and Methos discussed getting rolls for the breakfast in the first chapter. Well there is an easy explanation since I **_**refuse**_** to acknowledge that I missed it. A mean old lady with rather sharp elbows and really heavy red handbag got to them first and took all that were left in the shop so he had to improvise. (It happened to me last week so it's entirely possible) Beware of the fragile old looking ladies they **_**are**_** evil.8o)))**

**Chapter Four**

Methos felt his shoulders squeezed again in sympathy. The Highlander and his wife were both carefully studying him.

"When, how many?"

The world's oldest immortal closed his eyes as he started remembering against his will. Memories flooded through his mind like cold water. Flashes of steel on steel as he and Amanda defended themselves back to back. Methos purposely chose the more dangerous opponent from the two and fought with the teacher, leaving the student to the beautiful thief.

Pain of wounds that closed almost instantly still slowed them down dangerously. Even his vintage, five thousand years old quickening took several precious seconds before it kicked in and started to mend his flesh back together.

They won in the end but it was close.

_Too close, you´re getting sloppy._

"Two of them came the day before Julia and me had planned our wedding. I was lucky that Amanda was there. If she hadn´t insisted on being a bridesmaid, we wouldn´t be even talking right now."

Methos shuddered at the thought.

"They were crossing the town and felt my and Amanda´s Quickenings. I guess they just couldn´t resist." Sarah furrowed her brow in confusion, so he turned to her with an explanation. Getting into his scholar mode had always helped him to center himself in the past.

" When you get older than about over your first thousand ,some more sensitive immortals can often tell you apart from the younger ones. It´s probably a failsafe mechanism in our "buzz" so the our _youngsters_ don't go after someone they couldn´t possibly win against." After finishing his explanation, Methos turned his head back to Macleod.

"Of course even with the warning, some of the kids still choose to bite off more that they can possibly chew." His lips twitched lightly at the Highlanders offended look but his smile disappeared a few seconds after.

Sarah carefully studied his face and tried to ask a question that had been troubling her since he first mentioned the reason for his visit.

"Adam… is your family…are they…?

Methos paled even more than before at the implication what could have happened to his Julie and Joseph if he had lost.

"NO!...They are fine. They're safe now."

Macleod´s eyes softened in sympathy at that statement.

"You left because you wanted them out of danger, didn´t you?"

"I had to! If they got my Quickening they would be able to find them from my memories - or the next time when someone came after me they could hurt them so they could get closer to me. I couldn´t let that happen. It´s for the best."

The Highlander again exchanged looks with his wife behind Methos's still shaking back. Sarah gestured with her head towards a liquor cabinet in the corner of the room. While Macleod went to prepare a stiff drink, she carefully maneuvered the older immortal towards the sofa. Methos let himself be led by the elbow without any resistance. As soon as he was seated, a cold glass with double scotch on the rocks was thrust into his hands.

"Stop blaming yourself. It wasn´t your fault. You survived and kept them both safe. You are the best swordsman that I _ever _met in my whole four hundred years, and I purposely went and looked for the best among teachers. But _none_ of them were in the same league as you are."

Methos glared at him and gripped his glass tighter.

"I told you before, Highlander that I haven´t felt guilt since at least the eleventh century and that I simply don´t have the fire any more. There is nothing left but ashes, not even a spark. The technique can be perfect but without that I could have lost that fight as easily as I won it. One of them had a second blade and several more daggers under his coat. There were times when I didn´t leave Holy Ground without at least twice much of an arsenal as that. But this time I was so stupid that I only carried my old Ivanhoe."

"You keep telling me that over and over- a decade even, since Kalas. But I know for a fact that it´s not the truth. You _have _that fire in spades_. _I saw the way you fight. Even when we simply sparred I could always tell that you were holding back and could easily wipe the floor with me any time you wanted. But you _didn´t_. You always tell people that you stopped caring, but that´s a lie too and everyone who _really_ knows you can see that. If it wasn´t a lie I wouldn´t be even having this conversation with you. I would be fighting for my life with Death himself instead."

"You are wrong, Macleod, that's not the…" Methos started, but before he could finish Sarah interrupted him in the middle of the sentence.

"No, he isn´t. Even I can see that he is right and I only met you this morning."

Methos started to protest but Sarah stopped him with a wave of her hand and continued.

"If you didn´t care, you wouldn´t have left your fiancé and the boy in the first place. I´m not saying that leaving was exactly the best thing that you could have done but that´s not my point…"

"What do you mean, not the best thing? They are safe! No more hunters, no more immortals nothing else will ever happens to them now that I´m gone!"

Sarah just rolled her eyes over his outburst.

"Men. It doesn´t matter if you are forty, four hundred or five thousand; it´s still the same. You act like the whole world is your responsibility. Let me tell you something, mister: did she know who you really are?"

"Yes. I told her a few months after we met." Duncan looked surprised at that. Even he waited twelve years until he told Tessa the whole truth.

"Then she knew the risks."

"Yes but…."

"There are no buts. If you are anything like Duncan, then you explained every little detail and every risk that a relationship with you involved. Yes, you are immortals, yes, you have several lifetimes more experiences that us puny little mortals, but that doesn´t mean that we are stupid children and can´t decide for ourselves. She still agreed to marry you and to raise her child together with you. Do you really think that she would do that if she thought that it wasn´t worth the risk? You act like getting killed by evil immortals is the only thing that could happen to us, but life isn´t that simple. There is no difference between you and us. There are no more guaranties that I or Julie aren´t killed in some car accident…" Her eyes met with Duncan´s …or attempted mugging. We could all die any time so why don´t we live our lives the way we want and with who we want."

Sarah had her hands on her hips and kept looking intensely into the world's oldest Immortal's eyes until he lowered them. Satisfied that she had won the argument she nodded to her husband and went to collect the laundry basket that she had put down earlier.

"Now gentlemen, if you excuse me I´m going to bed. I´m sure you have a lot to talk about since you didn't see each other for several years. We _will_ all discus what to do with this mess when I get at least six hours of sleep." Sarah kissed her husband once more and left.

Methos gulped the rest of his scotch in one go and exchanged a glance with Duncan, shaking his now empty glass.

"Do you have more?"

"Yes, there is at least half of the bottle left. Why? Do you want me to pour you another one?" The world's oldest Immortal turned his gaze back to the door that probably went to the bedroom and behind which the Highlander´s fierce wife had just disappeared.

"Not right now. But looks like I´m going to need it a lot when she wakes up."

**TBC**

**Read and Review please**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sandcastles**

**By Darian**

**Sorry my Piece of Cra….uhm PC just crashed on me (again) and I had to send it back with a ****claim****for****replacement****. Soooooooooo no more chapters for at least two weeks. Sorry folks; this one was written on my old PC but that one is in even worse condition than my new one and it's really a pain in the … uhm, you know where - to use it. It doesn´t even have a fully functioning keyboard. Half the time it doesn´t work ;especially the letters M and E. And I just don´t have either the time or the patience to check and correct every two words for the missing letters. So see you in two weeks. (Hopefully8o)))) I have absolutely no idea how soon I will get a new one) **

**Chapter Five**

Methos put the empty glass on the coffee table and leaned back on the sofa, feeling more tired than he was before going to sleep last night. Duncan was silently watching him from the armchair that was opposite him. His brows were slightly creased in concern.

"Will you really be all right?"

"Yeah, just give me a century or two. I know it's a bad cliché but _enough_ time really does heal everything."

Duncan snorted.

"And you call me an eternal optimist." The Scot sipped his drink and watched the ice slowly melt. "Besides, I seriously doubt that Sarah will give them to you. When she gets something into her head nothing will stop her."

"You just_ love_ living on the edge, don´t you?"

"Sometimes it´s worth it."

Methos watched as the Highlander smiled and glanced dreamily towards door behind which his wife had disappeared just a few minutes earlier.

_You are far braver than I ever was, my friend. Sometimes I wish I had your courage to face life rather than flee and hide from it._

_Time for an evasive move._

"Soooo, we were ordered to catch up with our lives. You've already heard the most important bits about what happened to _me_, it´s your turn now."

Although Methos often liked to tease the Highlander about being more brawn than brains, his friend caught on quick and instantly recognized that he wanted to avoid a follow-up conversation about his present situation.

"There isn´t much to tell. really. About three months after the last time we saw each other, I went to some fundraising action for the Metro Hospital and met Sarah there. We started to talk about her work and what the hospital needed funds for, after that we went on a few dinners and other dates. I proposed to her on our six-month anniversary and married her four weeks later."

The Highlander nervously checked his friend's expression at the mention of his own engagement. The oldest Immortal had all his masks and walls securely back in place, however, so it was really hard to tell his current feelings about the topic. But Methos surprised him with his next sarcastic comment.

"And completely forget to invite me. Really, Highlander, you wound me. I love weddings; especially being the best man. No one _ever _forgets the bachelor parties that I throw no matter _how drunk _they are.

"I would have invited you if I knew where you actually were. You didn´t exactly leave me an address where I could send an invitation to, did you?"

"True, I just hope that Joe gave you a great send off in my stead."

The Highlander laughed at the slightly pouty expression on the oldest Immortal face. Methos _had_ had a few millennia to perfect it and he knew that it made him look _even_ _younger_ than he normally did. It often made his opponentsunderestimate him and lose otherwise pretty well-balanced fights.

"You don´t have to worry; it was worthy even of your approval. Joe organized it at his bar and there was plenty of beer and great music."

"That's good to hear. If Joe threw it, it must have been great - especially the music." Methos smiled sadly at the memory of his last conversation with Joe.

"You know, he asked me if he could play at _my_ wedding. He looked very disappointed when he thought that I had already arranged someone else until I explained that I wanted him as my best man instead."

"Well they do say that greats minds think alike." The Highlander tried to cheer him up when he saw him to fall back into his black mood. But Methos just kept staring onto a wall somewhere behind Macleod's back.

"Yeah, well it doesn´t matter anymore, because there won't be any wedding after all, will there?"

"Methos…"

"Please, Macleod, don´t. It doesn´t matter. She deserves someone better than me anyway. Death shouldn´t have a happily ever after."

"That was a _very_ long time ago, and I don´t think that she could find someone better than you, Methos." Macleod held firmly the oldest Immortal's gaze. Letting him see that he meant every word he just said.

_Thank you my friend, you have no idea what your sentiment means to me. You've grown up pretty fast since we met._

Methos quickly schooled his expression back to a teasing one before his true emotions could show on his face.

"Do we have to sit here until the Sleeping Beauty rises again or can we go out?"

"Don´t let her hear you calling her that, she would skin you alive."

"Of that I have absolutely no doubt. She would have made a great Immortal."

The world's oldest Immortal unconsciously rubbed his arm where the Highlander´s fierce wife had cut him earlier with the sword.

Methos shuddered and made a mental note to never EVER make Sarah angry at him.

"Yes she would. You know we could go to Joe´s bar, it´s just a few blocks from here. It was one of the reasons why we choose this loft when Sarah and I decided to move in together. Even though Joe isn´t there, they will still have great music and they have really excellent beer there.I´m sure that even _you_ would approve of some of their brands. They have really big collection from all around Europe." The Highlander gave him a hopeful look.

"Ha. Nice try, Macleod. Pretend how much you want but you don´t fool me. You just want to woo me there with a promise of fine beverage so I'll point out your new Watcher to you."

"Well, when you mention it : you could tell me what you know about that lad. I would like to know what to expect from him and if I can trust him."

"I lost touch with the Watchers almost five years ago when Adam Pierson resigned to finally pursue his PhD in Anthropology."

"You still must have heard something about him. I know _you,_ Methos. You would have at least checked that he doesn´t belongs to Horton´s fanatic followers and warned me if he did."

"You know sometimes it's almost scary how well we know each other. Fine let´s go, but you are paying."

"Like that's anything new."

**TBC**

**Read and review please**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sandcastles**

**By Darian**

**Howdy guys new chapter to my story. Sorry that it takes me so long to update but my Real life is conflicting with my other more interesting one. Never ever attend two colleges with daily schedule at the same time: it really messes up your spare time 8o)))**

****Chapter Six****

The building looked in a good shape. Someone had carefully removed all the old graffiti that decorated its walls and its clean red bricks almost shone compared to the sloughing plaster of the other buildings around.

"Well if nothing else at least they kept the sign," the world's oldest Immortal commented as he went under the big blue neon sign that read _Joe´s bar,_ closely followed by the highland warrior.

As they entered the building their eardrums were instantly attacked with loud music from the band that was currently playing on the small stage on the left side of the bar.

Methos´s eyes immediately flew to the young looking bartender that was tending it.

Wesley Price. Age 28. Princeton grad. Six feet tall, brown hair, blue eyes with glasses. Not exactly bad looking but no Brad Pitt either. He was currently wearing a long sleeved black t-shirt (to cover his watcher tattoo) and faded blue jeans. No interesting features whatsoever, almost kind of boorish face. A poster child for ordinary.

_In the other words, great material for a watcher recruit. Even I couldn´t have chosen a better candidate myself. He's exactly the person that will blend into any environment without a question. Well, they've had almost four thousand years of practice of spying on really dangerous people with really sharp pointy metallic objects that tend to kill first and ask no questions later, so of course they had to know their stuff. But still a good job._

He'd seen the kid´s picture before in his Watcher file, but everyone looks kind of boring on their passport picture. Compared with reality, it actually looked more interesting than the real thing.

The Watcher's database was still too easy for him to crack, it didn´t even take him longer than five minutes to get through their security system that was supposed to protect the most guarded secret on this planet, the existence of the Immortal race and the Watchers, without any trace.

Price´s resume was kind of a short one. He'd had only one assignment since graduating the Watcher Academy two years ago. His post was as a Watcher apprentice to the Cassandra´s (Methos had to suppress a shiver when he first ran across her name) regular Watcher who was planning to retire next year. Kid was trained as his permanent replacement, but somebody in the Council decided that it would be much better if they assigned _her_ a female Watcher. So the kid was send back to Headquarters to be reassigned as a temporary help to the archive staff.

_At least according to his file the kid has no ties to _Horton´s Hunting Party 101_. They were long gone and the few that managed to escape went deep underground before he even joined the organization. He'd stumbled upon a Quickening during a car accident that ended with a decapitation of an young Immortal due to the windshield of all things. Not even a witness of a proper challenge. Pfff. Well, if I know the Highlander, your life is going to get much _more_ interesting in the near future, kid. If I were you, Price, I would rather start to dust up on my knowledge of ancient prophecies, demons, freaky Quickening powers and evil Immortals that want to rule the world. It wouldn´t hurt to add some really intensive self defense courses too. One never knows what our dear Millennium Champion will stumble across the next time._

_The world's oldest Immortal shuddered at the thought of upcoming catastrophes in the near future. The Highlander had the tendency to attract dangerous situations like the light attracted moths._

Methos gloomy thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the aforementioned champion as he tugged on his sleeve.

"Do you want to sit at the bar, or should we get a table?"

"The table would be better, I want to check out the new bands and I hate when people scream their orders next to my ear."

"All right then. I will get the beer, you choose the table."

Macleod marched purposely to the bar through the rather large crowd, for such an early hour. The bar was almost half full and it wasn´t even after ten AM_._

_European people sure like their liquor. He'd learned that the hard way when he'd visited Germany at the end of 18th century and let himself be drawn into a wager with the locals that he could drink them under the table. It actually ended the exact opposite way, with him sleeping it off in a nearby barn, too drunk to walk back to the inn where his room was. He was lucky there was no Immortal near that night or his five thousand years long life would have ended rather embarrassingly._

Methos noticed as the young Watcher tried not to look excited as his charge came to give him his order. Healmost succeeded. Well, if you overlooked his expression that was reminiscent of an eager puppy. The world's oldest Immortal rolled his eyes as he sat at the nearest empty table under the stage. He kept his back turned to the bar so the kid couldn´t gawk at his face and write down his description for his next report.

_Great, another Highlander fan with a hero worship complex, just what we needed. _

**TBC**

**Read and review please please pretty please**


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